Israel attacks Gaza,
West Bank; 2 deadJerusalem, March 29In a serious escalation of conflict, Israeli helicopters rocketed Palestinian buildings in Gaza Strip and West Bank, killing at least two persons andwounding 60 others, inviting criticism from the USA, which said force cannot resolve the West Asia problem.

Pakistan slammed for backing TalibanGeneva, March 29The international community today launched a scathing attack on the Taliban regime for its “most barbaric, inhuman and
ignominious form of fanaticism” with some countries holding Pakistan responsible for extending moral and material support to the Taliban.

Clinton spells out US strategyWashington, March 29
Former US president Bill Clinton has said arms control and non-proliferation initiatives and continued maintenance of a triad of nuclear forces on land, sea and air are two sides of the US strategy for protecting and enhancing the country’s security.

Bush Budget gets House nodWashington, March 29
Republicans overwhelmed the Democrats and pushed a $1.94 trillion Budget for 2002 through the House, as us president George W. Bush’s blueprint for tax cuts and curtailed spending cleared its first major congressional hurdle.

Split in B’desh OppositionDhaka, March 29
Bangladesh’s Parliament began today what could be its last session before a bitter election campaign amid a split in the Opposition.The session opened with deputies from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its allies again staying away as part of their nearly two-year-old boycott.

Jerusalem, March 29
In a serious escalation of conflict, Israeli helicopters rocketed Palestinian buildings in Gaza Strip and West Bank, killing at least two persons andwounding 60 others, inviting criticism from the USA, which said force cannot resolve the West Asia problem.

Israel launched attack last night as the Arab leaders ended their summit in the Jordanian capital, Amman, agreeing to support the Palestinian “uprising” against Israel and demanding for an international force in the region to protect Palestinians.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres criticised the final
communiqué of the summit as “an obstacle to peace that only intensifies the hatred.”

As the heightened tension threatened to get out of control, Israeli helicopter gunships rocketed five targets of Force 17, Yasser Arafat’s elite presidential guard unit, in Gaza and the West Bank.

Two Palestinians were killed in the latest attacks in Ramallah, one Mr Arafat’s presidential bodyguard of Force 17 and the other a civilian woman, Palestinian sources said.

Mr Arafat’s sea-side home in Gaza was also damaged as gunships blasted a Force 17 building, used as a weapons arsenal, only 100 m from Mr Arafat’s house. Women and children were heard screaming as they possibly fled nearby buildings.

More than 60 Palestinians were injured in Ramallah and Gaza, many of them critically, media reports from Gaza said.

Israeli Cabinet Minister Meir Sheetrit told CNN that “we had been forced to do something defensive. Israel has to use its self-defence point of view that we have to take care of the security of people of the country.”

Defence Minister of Israel Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Ha’aretz daily that the suicide-bombings convinced the government it was time to act. “The mass of incidents over the past several days convinced us to act,” he said.
PTI

Geneva, March 29
The international community today launched a scathing attack on the Taliban regime for its “most barbaric, inhuman and
ignominious form of fanaticism” with some countries holding Pakistan responsible for extending moral and material support to the Taliban.

Addressing the 57th session of the Commission of Human Rights, Mr A. Abdullah, Foreign Minister in the Burhanuddin government of Northern Alliance of Afghanistan, accused Pakistan of sending soldiers and war material to help the Taliban fight against the resistance movement in the war-torn country.

Mr Abdullah said it was said to observe that Pakistan was “obstinately continuing to support the Taliban by every possible means. This suicidal policy deprived Pakistan of any right to speak in the name of Islam.”

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and representatives of various nations and non-governmental organisations also voiced concern over the blatant violation of human rights by the Taliban and destruction of Buddha statues in Bamiyan province recently.

“The frenzied destruction of the magnificent statues in Bamiyan horrified was all because of the irretrievable cultural loss and above all symbolic destruction of the idea of tolerance,” he said.

A representative of the Organisation of the Defending Victims of Violence said violence in Afghanistan showed and proved that there was a climate of lawlessness and disregard for human life and dignity, which resulted in an extremely high level of violence and violation of human rights.

Pakistan’s Law and Human Rights Minister Shahida Jamil criticised the destruction of Buddha statues but urged the international community not to isolate the Taliban and instead help them overcome drought and other crises.

Mr Rene Wadlow of the Association of World Education expressed surprise over the Commission’s indifferent attitude on desecration of religious sites and assaults on religious places by the Taliban.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Mr David Littmen of the World Union of Progressive Judaism.
UNI

Washington, March 29
Former US president Bill Clinton has said arms control and non-proliferation initiatives and continued maintenance of a triad of nuclear forces on land, sea and air are two sides of the US strategy for protecting and enhancing the country’s security.

“Arms control and non-proliferation initiatives are an essential element of our national security strategy of enhancing security at home and abroad,” he said in his just published global strategy report to the Congress.

“They closely complement and strengthen our efforts to defend our nation through our own military strength while seeking to make the world a less dangerous place,” Mr Clinton said.

He said, “We pursue verifiable arms control and non-proliferation agreements that support our efforts to prevent the spread and use of
NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) weapons, materials, expertise and means of delivery; halt the use of conventional weapons that cause unnecessary suffering; and contribute to regional stability at lower levels of armaments.”

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) will put in place a worldwide network of sensors for detecting nuclear explosions, he said in the report, adding that with over 300 stations around the globe, including 31 in Russia, 11 in China and 17 in the West Asia, this international monitoring systems will improve us ability “to monitor and catch cheaters”.

For the
US “nuclear weapons serve as a guarantor of our security commitments to allies and a disincentive to those who would contemplate developing or otherwise acquiring their own
WMD (weapons of mass destruction) capability”, the report said, adding that “those who threaten the US or its allies with
WMD should have no doubt that any such attack would meet an overwhelming and devastating response.”

“Our military planning for the possible employment of US strategic nuclear weapons is focused on deterring a nuclear war and it emphasises the survivability of our nuclear systems, infrastructure, command, control and communications systems necessary to endure a pre-emptive attack and yet still deliver an overwhelming response,” the report added.

The USA would continue to maintain a robust triad of strategic nuclear forces sufficient to deter any potential adversaries, who might have or seek access to nuclear forces — to convince them that seeking a nuclear advantage or resorting to nuclear weapons would be futile, Mr Clinton said in the report.
PTI

Washington, March 29
Republicans overwhelmed the Democrats and pushed a $1.94 trillion Budget for 2002 through the House, as us president George W. Bush’s blueprint for tax cuts and curtailed spending cleared its first major congressional hurdle.

The vote was a near party line 222-205. Though devoid of suspense because of the Republican’s thin but unified majority, they hailed their victory as a triumph for their view of the government.

“The choice is between two visions,” said House majority leader Dick Armey of Texas. “A vision of bigger and bigger government, a choice between larger and larger taxes or a choice of smaller government that trusts the people.”

The House roll-call, though, was but a warm-up for a rougher test next week in the evenly divided Senate. There, the Republicans not only face democratic opposition, but some moderate Republicans said Mr Bush’s 10-year, $ 1.6 trillion tax cut is too big and his proposed spending restraints too stingy.
AP

Dhaka, March 29
Bangladesh’s Parliament began today what could be its last session before a bitter election campaign amid a split in the Opposition.

The session opened with deputies from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its allies again staying away as part of their nearly two-year-old boycott.

However, 17 MPs from the Jatiya Party of jailed former President Hussain Muhammad Ershad, led by his wife, broke the boycott despite pleas from their partners, returning to the chamber to applause from ruling deputies.

The Opposition split will hearten the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, which has faced a bitter recent war of words with the Opposition over the timing of the elections.

Main Opposition leader and BNP chief Khaleda Zia called last week for Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League administration to step down by this Friday or face nationwide general strikes from April 1.

Sheikh Hasina, who had said she would step down after April 17 and seek re-election before June 12, warned her offer would be withdrawn if the Opposition did not withdraw its ultimatum.
AFP

London, March 29
The children who shot to stardom in “The Sound of Music” have reunited 35 years later for a bittersweet reflection on the “Von Trappings” of fame.

The stars of the 1964 film — seen by 1 billion people worldwide — returned to Salzburg together for the first time for a documentary recreating how they learnt to sing at the feet of Julie Andrews.

Their lives certainly took them in many different directions — from posing nude in Playboy to starring in “Spiderman” and designing Michael Jackson’s bedroom.

At first, they found it difficult to create identities away from their roles and felt some bitterness over the slim rewards received for appearing in such a huge moneyspinner.

But they revealed in the Yorkshire Television documentary being shown last night that they are now proud of their roles in the classic movie about the nun who found love and taught the Von Trapp family how to sing.

Charmian Carr was 21 and way past “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” when chosen to play Liesel.

At 57, she has written about her memories in “Forever Liesel” and runs her own interior design business. Among her clients was Michael Jackson.

She revealed in the documentary how she and the reclusive superstar bought 17 mannequins he wanted for his bedroom. “They are unbelievably real and it’s so weird,” she said.

She said the young cast were unhappy about “all the money that has been made on The Sound of Music ... It still bugs us.”

Nicholas Hammond, who grew six inches during filming, went on to further fame as “Spiderman” and now lives in Australia. He said: “The world will always think of me as Friedrich Von Trapp whether I want them to or not.”

Heather Menzies, a Canadian ballet student who played Louisa, later posed nude for Playboy as “The Tender Trapp.” Now happily married to US actor Robert Urich, she said: “The trip (back to Austria) made me realise what fun it was to do.”

Duane Chase, who played Kurt, quit films and now designs computer software for geologists. “I just decided I wanted to do other things,” he said of his career switch.

Angela Cartwright was already a child star when landing the role of Brigitta. Now she is a photographer and runs a gift boutique on the Internet.

Debbie Turner, just seven when she played Marta, became a ski racer and now runs her own floral design business.

Kym Karath, the baby of the party when she played Gretl at the age of five, still works as an actress in New York.
Reuters

WORLD BRIEFS

SPEAKER TO
APOLOGISEWELLINGTON: The Speaker of the New Zealand Parliament, Jonathan Hunt, would apologise to MPs for suggesting that some of them got drunk during their evening meal break and then could not remember what they said the next morning, news reports said on Thursday. Furious opposition members said they were deeply distressed and shocked by the comments made at a press conference by Hunt when asked if the behaviour of MPs was getting worse, the New Zealand Herald reported.
DPA

PARENTS
OF TEST-TUBE BABY SEEK PROTECTION
LAHORE: The parents of a Pakistani test-tube baby have gone to court seeking protection from perceived threats of people, who believe the birth was illegitimate, court sources have said. Mr Justice Karamat Nazir Bhandari of the Lahore High Court in the central province of Punjab held a preliminary hearing of the couple’s petition on Wednesday and asked the federal and provincial governments to send their views, the sources added.
Reuters

POSH SPICE'S
PRIDE, OTHER MOMS' ENVY
LONDON: Two-year-old Brooklyn Beckham has given his mother Victoria a customized BMW as Mother’s Day gift, with the assistance of his father, David Beckham, England football captain, British press reports have said. Posh Spice is now the owner of an $ 80,000 four-wheel drive vehicle complete with three televisions.
DPA

SKYSCRAPER
WRAPPED IN CONTROVERSY
BARCELONA: Plans for building a 145-storey skyscraper have unleashed a controversy in Spain’s second biggest city Barcelona, where experts are hailing it as an architectural innovation while local people claim that it looks like a giant penis, press reports have said. The 35-storey office building by French architect Jean Nouvel will be one of the highest buildings in the city. Nouvel said he had been inspired by the form of the nearby Montserrat mountain, but local people call the $ 130-million building “a bad joke”.
DPA

RAT IN BURGER,
MCDONALD'S SUED
TORONTO: A Toronto family has filed a $ 10m lawsuit against McDonald after a nine year-old girl allegedly bit into a burger that contained a crushed rat’s head, according to a published report. The family’s suit against Mc Donald’s McDonald’s Corp stems from an incident they claim happened in June, 1999, at a fastfood outlet in the Canadian city, said the report in The Toronto Star.
DPA

STRIPPING MORE
PAYING THAN SPORTS
FULLERTOWN (US): A woman, sophomore at the state college here did not have to think twice when her track coach gave her a choice between starying on the team or continuing to work as a stripper at a local night club. As far as exotic dancer Leilani Rios is concerned, stripping pays the bills, allowing her to be the first member of her family to go to college and cross-country running for Cal-State Fullerton is just exercise. And that is the naked truth.
Reuters

TORNADO
HITS PAK VILLAGE
ISLAMABAD: A tornado roared through a small swathe of Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, killing four people, injuring many more and destroying 100 homes, a government official said on Thursday. The tornado that struck on Wednesday heavily damaged Chak Miran village, about 200 km south-east of Islamabad, said Mr Mohammed Siddiq, Deputy Commissioner of the area. Two women and two children died when the tornado hit.
AP

PACT
THAT LANDED HIM IN JAIL
SINGAPORE: A man, who agreed to a suicide pact with his cancer-stricken sister, was jailed for 12 months in the first reported case of mercy killing in the city-state, the media said on Thursday.
DPA